274 Hurticulhiral Joltafida 



close short greensward between the rocks, in well-chosen, 

 sites, to enable one to enjoy the minuter beauties of creation, 

 stretched sub dio. In such a situation, and at the close of 

 some autumnal evening, let any one whose mind is capable 

 of feeling the beauty and the glories of creation lie 

 reclined, " commune with his heart, and be still." Close to 

 his eye he will see numbers of little insects bright and beau- 

 tiful ; most of them, though he be skilled in insect lore, 

 unknown to him; some climbing up the spiry grass, some 

 disporting on the fragrant flowers, perhaps engaged in like 

 labour with the bee, most industrious of God's creatures, 

 flitting from plant to plant, and filling up each interval of 

 labour with its song. Beneath the sward on which he 

 reclines, another class of brilliant-scaled insects stir the dusty 

 particles of earth, others skim upon the clear surface of the 

 brook that babbles at his feet ; and, looking into its lucid 

 depths, he beholds another and more wonderful race re- 

 velling in enjoyment, from the scaled fish, poised on its 

 tenuous fins, to the minutest discernible particle that motion 

 alone detects to be an animal. He may suppose the wonders 

 of vegetable life around him, also, in their everlasting variety 

 and beauty, from " the cedar that groweth in Lebanon to the 

 hyssop that springeth out of the wall." Farther on, the 

 feathered inhabitants of the brake and wood discourse their 

 vesper song. " Silence is pleased ; " Nature herself hath 

 donned her evening veil, perfumed by every odorous tree 

 and flower; an auburn halo gilds the landscape seen far 

 away, laden with golden crops, studded with villages, 

 traversed by flocks and herbs: the sun is set; and all is 

 hushed save the lone nightingale, that " all night long her 

 amorous descant sings ; " the stars begin to kindle their 

 appointed fires, and the moon pours her broad flood of silver 

 light upon the silent air. It is night : the watcher rises, 

 with a mind exalted, chastened, and composed. But to 

 return from the scenery of our own fatherland to that of the 

 savage spot whence this digression commenced. After a 

 succession of ascents and descents, over the rugged path, 

 fearful and dangerous in many places (but for the surprising 

 sagacity of the sure-footed mules, which, accustomed to such 

 paths, secure their footing, unguided by the rein, with an 

 unerring certainty, even when passing over polished granite 

 boulders, and in places where a fall would be destruction), 

 the valley widened, the trees became more scarce, and we 

 soon arrived at a little chalet, there we dined upon cheese, 

 strawberries and cream, &c. 



We had not ridden on above half a mile after dinner. 



